Options Trading News

Vulcan Materials has been trending steadily lower, and one bear is riding it to the downside.

optionMONSTER's Depth Charge tracking system detected a surge of put activity in the company, which provides sand and crushed stone used in construction. A block of 5,000 November 37 puts was sold for $10.225 and an equal number of November 32s were bought for $6.20.

Volume was below open interest in the higher strike, which suggests that an existing position was rolled lower. The move let the investor recover about $4 of capital while letting them profit from a continued decline. The bearish put roll follows buying in the November 35 contracts last week.

VMC is down 4 percent to $27.79 in early afternoon trading. It's down 28 percent in the last three months and has been falling ever since the housing market started coming unglued in 2007.

Overall option volume in VMC is 8 times greater than average, with puts outnumbering calls by 6 to 1.

So far, my articles have taken you through a logical progression of option theory and fundamental concepts of options. As of yet, I have not mentioned a single strategy and for a good reason! The actual application of a strategy should come AFTER you learn about the option product itself.

optionMONSTER® provides stock market insight, advanced options education, and actionable trade ideas to meet the needs of do-it-yourself investors. After spending decades in the trading pits of Chicago, Jon 'DRJ' and Pete Najarian founded the company in 2005 to help people better manage their own investment portfolios.

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